CIVIL servants will start balloting for strikes over “chronic” low pay and wage compression at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) today.

Nearly 50,000 Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union members working in child maintenance offices and job, universal credit, personal independence payment and pension centres will be balloted until February 23.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said that “this level of poverty pay is not sustainable” with members “paid well below the market value for their skilled work.”

“Members across the department have told us that they are struggling financially as debt spirals,” she said.

“And as workplace stress increases, people’s mental health further deteriorates.”

The DWP’s 2025/26 pay offer was rejected by the union after it meant the wages of 25,000 workers in the lowest three pay grades will be left at the National Living Wage from April 1.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring competitive pay for all employees, and we have listened to feedback from trade unions, which helped influence the final offer and considered the upcoming National Living Wage increase.

“The current pay award reflects our ongoing efforts to balance various priorities and meet our staffing needs.”